ryuganji: film news from japan

From “Love and Honor” to “Free and Easy”

Former Takarazuka Revue star Dan Rei is set to take the “madonna” role in the 18th instalment of the “Free and Easy” (Tsuri Baka Nisshi) series, alongside headliners Nishida Toshiyuki and Mikuni Rentaro. She plays a feisty temple-raised woman who goes up against a construction company whose wanton developments threaten the beautiful scenery of her Okayama hometown. Dan made her film debut last year as the wife of Kimura Takuya’s protagonist in Yamada Yoji’s “Love and Honor” (Bushi no Ichibun), and is currently on set for the director’s next film “Kaabee” (previously covered here). Series veteran Asahara Yuzo directs, and Shochiku will release the film this summer. (source: Sports Hochi)

Kadokawa unites Toho and Shochiku, rescues sheep

In a typically bold move by producer Kadokawa Haruki, the trailer for his remake of Kurosawa Akira’s “Sanjuro” (”Tsubaki Sanjuro“, previously covered here) will play before his Genghis Khan biopic “Blue Wolf: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea” (”Aoki Okami - Chi Hate Umi Tsukiru Made“). The bold part is that “Sanjuro” is a Toho property, whereas “Blue Wolf” belongs to archrival Shochiku, making this an unprecedented collaboration between the two studios. As “Blue Wolf” is set to open from March 3rd on over 444 screens - a new record for a Japanese film - the potential exposure for “Sanjuro” is enormous, although it’s yet to be decided exactly how many of those screens will actually feature the trailer.　The trailer itself is reportedly a series of brief images of the core cast, especially stars Oda Yuji and Toyokawa Etsushi, which ends with Kadokawa’s tagline: “Kono otoko… jidai o koete… ikite iru” (This man… throughout the ages… lives on). Meanwhile, the tireless Kadokawa is also trying to help eradicate the foot-and-mouth epidemic plaguing Mongolia’s sheep by introducing researchers from Hokkaido University to Mongolian president Nambaryn Enkhbayar, who will be attending a premiere screening of “Blue Wolf” on March 2nd. (source: Sanspo)

Update: Mark Schilling covers the story for Variety here.